 In the XIX Century the clarinet has a priviledged place in the transcriptions and in the arrangments of operatic fantasies. Its immense expressive and timbrical potentials attracted many arrangers. Its flexible sound can replace so well the soprano arias in order to be both brilliant and happy, melanchonic and sad. Donato Lovreglio (1841-1907) was both a flutist and clarinettist. He was born in Bari (south of Italy) and then he moved to Naples where he was active as a composer. He introduced in Italy the Boehm system on the flute, performed in due with his wife, the pianist Adelina Castelli, and he composed a few significant clarinet fantasies on themes from operas of Verdi (La Traviata, Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlo and Un Ballo in Maschera) Donizetti (Maria Stuarda) and Bellini (Norma). La Traviata is without doubt his most performed opera fantasy by the clarinet players. Deh pietosa addolorata (Oh with mercy, oh Woman of Griefs), does not belong to any of the 27 lirical Operas of Giuseppe Verdi: it is instead one of his most famous Romanzas, whose text has been written by Goethe, and it fits perfectly to the clarinet. Michele Mangani is a contemporaneus clarinettist and composer, very active conducting wind bands and composing. His Verdiana is a quite demanding, elaborated and well conceived potpourri of Verdian themes from his most celebrated operas, such as I due Foscari, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Aida, Luisa Miller. There are different versions of this piece for clarinet and piano, clarinet and band and clarinet and orchestra. Ferdinando Sebastiani was, like Cavallini, a great Italian clarinet virtuoso of the Napolitan school, principal clarinet at the Royal S. Charles Theatre of Naples and very active as a solo player. His great Method (1855-60) testifies that he was also a talented teacher. Quite often the newspapers of the time remarked his good musical and technical qualities. He wrote a few clarinet solo compositions with piano and with orchestra, taking themes from operas of Rossini, Bellini, and Verdi. In spite of the title (Scherzo) from Il Trovatore here recorded, the character of the two parts of this piece is brilliant only in some fast figurations in the final part of the pleading Miserere. Even the E flat clarinet can find a place in the array of the many italian operatic fantasies. Giuseppe Capelli (1875 -1918), in fact, besides many compositions for other brass instruments, wrote seven fantasies just for the E flat clarinet with piano accompaniment, like in the transcription of I Due Foscari, recorded in this CD. Giuseppe Leonesi (1833 - 1901) was a clarinet player, teacher and band conductor. He also invented a unique clarinet able to play in B flat and A (Clarinetto Leonesi). In his Solo and Romanza from La Forza del destino he put the longest clarinet solo part in an opera of the italian repertoire. This emotional solo had been conceived especially for Ernesto Cavallini who played it for the première of 1862 in San Petersburg. The choir of Zingarella in the II Act of Il Trovatore has an anvil in the orchestra to underline and give a special meaning together with the theme. Luigi Bassi (1833 - 1871) was a good clarinettist, pupil of Benedetto Carulli, who was one of the first clarinet professor of the new founded Milan Conservatoire at the beginning of the 19th century. The Fantasy from Il Rigoletto is his best clarinet composition, and one of the clarinet operatic fantasies more performed in the world. Some flamboyant variations and a virtuosic final part make this composition very suitable for a clarinet recital. The clarinet plays and expresses all its nuances in all arias presented in this CD.A path that accompanies us through some of the most beautiful operas of Giuseppe Verdi.
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